J O’Gradys — Restaurant in Sumter

On one of our many trips, we happened to find ourselves in Sumter, South Carolina. Not being from here we searched Google reviews for a mom and pop restaurant, and were pleased to have found the high ratings of J O'Grady's so we thought we would try it out.

This place had a neat old baseball theme, with all kinds of memoribilia all over the walls. It was obvious that it was a local hang out, as there was only one booth left when we arrived. Happily, we took it.

We decided on Voodoo Tacos, just because they sounded so intriguing. Being a foodie, I enjoy trying new things. It said it has pineapple marinaded chicken lettuce, bacon bits, crushed croutons and a secret voodoo sauce on a soft taco shell. They came very quickly from the kitchen and were flat out beautifully presented. There was three little tacos, artfully displayed in a taco stand. One bite and I was highly impressed with the amazing mixture of items on this little taco. Everything complimented the next thing and the croutons were a nice crunchy addition. The voodoo sauce was not spicy, as I had guessed it would be... Which is great because I don't get along too well with fire laced food. It was more of a ranch with some other flavor I can't quite pinpoint... But it was amazing and was clearly made there in house.

And no meal is complete without trying a different type of dessert. We asked what they had. The sweet little waitress told us there was beer and bacon ice cream and mixed berry cobbler. So, we ordered one of each and decided to share with one another. I started with the beer and bacon ice cream, because let's be honest here everything is better with bacon... And add beer to it and how could it be bad? But the idea seemed so different to me it was worth a try. It had a beer made chocolate-like sauce, bacon bits and candied pecans over the top of some delicious vanilla ice cream. My first bite left my tongue in a confusion, as I seemed to taste very well the beer and ice cream... But where was the bacon? I learned very quickly that the aftertaste was a great smoky flavored bacon. My man described it best when he called it a multi layer taste.

When we switched dishes, I was happily pleased again with the mixed berry cobbler. The crust was phenomenal, and the mixed berries were very flavorful. And smack dab in the middle of the berry sauce drizzled dish was more of that yummy ice cream and more of the candied pecans.

I honestly couldn't tell you which dessert was best, because they were both so unique and delicious. I guess you'll just have to try both as well...

All in all, this was a fantastic stop. I will give this one a huge thumbs up on the Rikki Recommends list. Go check it out, if you haven't... I'm sure...

Customer service isn’t in the vocabulary! Called to make a to go order at 6:32 phone was answered and immediately hung up. Called right back a woman answered the phone this time never gave a name or professional greeting, I asked if they still sold the Clide burger, when she said yes i politely asked what came on it, the woman then very rudely told me “ I don’t have time to answer your questions, we are not taking anyto go orders tonight, we are jam packed” she did not let me have a word in before she hung up on me.... So I thought I would go to the restaurant to speak with the manager, let him know what happened with the girl who answered the phone and maybe give the them a second chance, as one horrible employee doesn’t always truly represent the company, in this instance I was wrong.... I get to the resteraunt and ask the hostess if I could speak to the manager, she says yes, walks behind the bar and speaks to a heavy set male with glasses and a purple shirt... He looks up sees me and goes about what he is doing, she comes back and says he will be there in a minute. I stand waiting for about 15 minutes, in those 15 minutes he looks up several times at me and then neglects that I am waiting to speak with him and starts doing new things and acknowledging other customers... So I left and will not return to do business with them in the future... All this shows is that when management has a blatant disregard for customer service it stands to reason to not expect it from the employees either.... would give zero stars if it was possible!! Won’t tell anyone else to not give them a chance, but will never recommend them...

This place has gone way down hill. We used to enjoy going here with our family, but our experience tonight was that we were bothering the employees. When we 1st walked in the hostess pointed toward the back of the restaurant and said have a seat at table number 10. We must've looked confused (we were) because she then said it was the last table. We are used to people showing us where to sit not trying to have us figure it out on our own. Once we found our table, our server quickly showed up and took our drink order. She asked if we wanted some bacon blue fries. I told her I was watching my calorie intake but my husband might want some. She asked in shock if i didn't like them. My husband reiterated what I just said and he declined. I asked if they had a booster seat for my child. She said they didn't have booster seats or high chairs and she left. When she came back, she rudely asked if we found anything. My husband and I felt as though she was trying to get us to leave. We still ordered and our food came out super fast which was a plus. The food was also very good, but all the interactions with our waitress were awkward and left us feeling like we were intruding. After we paid she told us they were having issues with accepting tips on their credit card machine and that cash tip is always better. Which to me is unprofessional. If our other interactions hadn't been so rude, we might not have taken that...